2007 saw some work on the yard and some nice progress on the patio!
I edged the walkway around the herb gardens. Added some nice definition.
The patio. The first thing was to lay in the electrical line for the future
fountain. Since that is going under the patio - kind of had to get that guy
done! Also poured the last of the footings.
Then it was onto the blocks. A reminder of what it looked like last year:
The first step was to paint the blocks. That was a LOT of work but fun too.
We used a really nice paint from Home Depot. It required perfectly dry blocks
and several solid days of above 60 degree, sunny weather. That particular formula
is not the easiest thing to accomplish in the Pacific Northwest!! But we got
it in August and did it. Our first color choice for the red blocks didn't work
visually for us, but it provided a nice base coat. We also stuccoed the border
blocks.
Here's a photo showing the original new color and the end result:
Here's an action shot of the blocks being painted. The sprayer was INVALUABLE!! Spraying
is THE way to go when painting several hundred concrete blocks! You can also
see the stucco work here.
So then I began laying the blocks. I got a pretty good system going - I
laid down this complex series of strings to indicate the top of the blocks,
then I trimmed two boards - one to be the depth below the string for the
gravel, the other for the sand. So I compacted the gravel and screed with
the first board, then added/compacted the sand and screed with the second
board. The actual laying in of the blocks was actually simple after that.
I did use a rubber hammer to put them tight into their spaces.
An "in progress" shot showing the patio about 75% done:
My dad came up in September. We rented a big ol' concrete saw and in one
incredibly hard but productive day cut all the odd shaped pavers and hammered
them into place. It was exhausting and exhilirating at the same time. I could
NOT have done it without my dad's invaluable assistance and advice. At least
not in any kind of a timely manner. It looked amazingly nice when done. I
should add that towards the end when these two were feeling their age, my
9-1/2 year old Lydia came out and became the runner between us and that saved
the day. We might not have made it through all of them without her assistance.
Peter expressing satisfaction with the results!
The final patio! With a couple of 8 foot 4x4's showing where the overhead
covering is coming in 2008:
Our garden did wonderfully this year. We had a huge crop of tomatoes, our
first major crop of corn and a ginormous pumpkin! And we had lots and lots
of strawberries as well :)
2008, i would really like to get the overhead done on the patio, the rest
of the sod laid in and if possible, begin the shed work! Also, the spare
patio blocks have a special place to go and that will be really nice.